A Decision...

Supreme Admiral Vashist stood in front of the massive holo transmitter in the Eosochela IV Military Base’s Comm Center, in the Omega Room…a room that had been specially designed for receiving and sending communication directly to the Triad. Although the room had been specially shielded and swept, and the special Xintinium walls and specially shielded 5-inch thick door eliminated all possibility of their conversation being overheard, the Admiral still felt distinctly uneasy, as he waited for the encrypted vidcom-link to be established.

The uneasiness might also have been due to the fact that the Admiral had some very critical news for the Triad, and he had no idea how they might react…

“Link established. Stand by to initiate communication.”…the musical tones of the Comm AI intoned.

The pulsing symbol of the Protectorate flashed in the holo-transmitter, changing colours with startling speed. The link was a uni-directional vid-link…so that the Triad could see him…but he could not see them…an essential measure to preserve the identitity of the Triad… but disquieting nonetheless.

The calm metallic voice (digitally distorted to defy even the most complex Voice Recognition software) echoed off the specially designed acoustic panels lining the walls of the room.

“Report Supreme Admiral.”

“Hail to the Triad. I have some critical news for the Protectorate.”

“That is why we have granted this audition. Go ahead but be brief.”

“As you wish Vardhan. As you know, the VSS Vayu had found the 2nd planet of the Ezor system to be of a Green 1 class – extremely suitable for life. However, exactly one Graha Chakkar (week) ago, while exploring the planet of Ezor IV, Captain Kava detected strange emissions from the surface…”

Vashist pressed a few buttons on the holo transmitter, and immediately the air beside him swirled, zoomed and changed to a fixed viewpoint of the system and then the planet in question…

“…on analysis of the emissions it was found that they were radio signals. It was surmised that these emissions were coming from an as yet undiscovered civilization on the planet. Detailed scans then showed the presence of a significant population of sentient life forms on the surface…almost 30 million separate entities were detected…this data along with records of the emission pattern was sent to the Data Directorate for further processing…”

“…initial indications from the crew of the Vayu, along with corroboration from the Data Directorate, are that we have stumbled upon a lost colony of Alkari…”

The view changed to show a being, which was a mixture of humanoid and avian appearance. The blazing eyes and pointed beak lent it an air of both great determination and fierceness.

“We know of this. What is you suggestion in this regard?”

Supreme Admiral Vashist blinked in a futile attempt to hide his surprise. They knew…but how?

Then he realized…they were the Triad. They had eyes and ears in even the most unlikely places…

And they were waiting…

He took a deep breath and continued…

“I suggest that the VSS Gharvastu be diverted to colonise this planet, instead of Ezor II, as originally planned.”

“Even though Ezor IV is of Yellow – 1 class, meaning more investment in terms of time, resources and manpower to properly colonise…something which we can ill afford at this early stage of our expansion?”

Were they toying with him…testing him? How much did they know?

He doggedly went on…

“Accepted that this will mean additional difficulties, but in the long run it will prove to be more beneficial to the Protectorate.”

He paused, and when the obvious question “How?” didn’t materialize, he hurriedly went on to elaborate…

“Firstly, Ezor IV already has a well established colony…which even though primitive by our standards has the potential to support a rapid population growth. So instead of colonizing a planet from scratch…we will be building on an already existing base, leading to an accelerated growth rate and faster setup time.

Secondly, the Alkari can help us colonise even more planets, because they are used to surviving in environments that may seem harsh to an Evon. This will perhaps become even more critical if we do not find too many readily habitable planets in our future explorations.

And perhaps even more importantly, from what our Historians and Xenobiologists have been able to discern from the archives, the Alkari are a hard-working and productive species, who once had a far-flung star empire. This means that, despite their current state of affairs, they should not face much difficulty in adapting to our relatively advanced technology, and should be able to significantly increase the production potential of the Protectorate. It is even being said that being natural aviators, they would make excellent ship navigators. If this is true, this skill will prove invaluable once we start building up a proper Stellar Navy…which we no doubt will have to in the future.”

“And on what basis do you depose such trust on these ‘creatures’? What will, for example, prevent them from learning our advanced technological secrets and then using them against us? Or preventing them from expanding like fire, and dominating us with sheer population size?”

This time the Admiral had been expecting the response. The Evon were as a species distrustful of the unknown. Knowledge was power, and lack of knowledge was cause for suspicion. And when this applied to unknown alien species…it led to an unmistakable sense of Xenophobia. That was after all the fundamental tenet of their civilization…

“From what we can discern from the records, the Alkari are an honourable species. We can use this ‘honour’ to retain our control on them. We can use strict colonization policies to ensure that Evon citizens will be given preference while colonizing the more habitable planets. We will of course not be giving them access to our more ‘sensitive’ technologies. Also, with your esteemed permission, we can start training a special Evon army, equipped with all our latest military hardware, which can be used, if necessary to control the Alkari if they do turn hostile. In this regard, we have already drawn up plans wherein a military base will be established to set up “control zones” on each planet we colonise. We will also for the moment, restrict entrance in the Navy to only Evon citizens. Later on, if the Alkari prove themselves, we can maybe allow them to join as Navigators, but all command personnel will be Evon.”

The Grand Admiral paused, out of breath. He had made his case…now it was up to the Triad. Had he passed the test?? He had not verbally mentioned the other, and much more pressing point in his case. It was too blasphemous to speak aloud, but he was sure the Triad understood. The records had also indicated that the Alkari had suffered at the hands of the Great Enemy…and fairly recently. The enemy of my enemy is my friend…so the saying went…and the Alkari might prove to be of immense strategic help…even if against their will…

The seconds ticked away agonizingly slowly…

Then the metallic voice spoke again…

“It is the consensus of the Triad that your logic is sound. There are of course risks, but then we knew that when we set out for the stars. Proceed Grand Admiral. May Vidurva guide us all.”

As the hologram flickered and died out, and the Grand Admiral turned to head out of the room, he was filled with a sense of something akin to realization of the enormous significance this decision would have on the future of the Protectorate…and of course on his own personal career…

Destiny was calling…

The Void

 It was called the “Void” – the place where the light of the cosmos ended…and the darkness began. Lying at the extreme edge of the known galactic boundary, in the Alpha spiral arm, bordering the “eternal darkness” as it was called, was the Eosochela system, a system whose fourth planet harboured a civilization that was uniquely suited to live in harmony with the darkness of the void. Called the Evon (literally Children of the Void)…these purple skinned beings, with a penchant for secrecy and ceremonial beliefs, seemed in fact to have been spawned by the void itself.

The Void, also called the Nara (meaning the “Source” in Evon language), thus defined the very essence of Evon culture and society. The darkness of the void, and its propensity to hide its secrets, had led to the Evon being a culture that valued secrecy above everything else. The most powerful and well-respected Evons were those who were rarely seen in public. The most rarely seen individuals in this unique civilization were the “Triad” – the three mysterious and indescribably ancient Evon who formed the supreme governmental apex of Evon life. The “Triad” was a faceless, nameless entity…whose reach extended to every facet of society. They held all the strings…they knew the pulse of the Evon…and it was even rumoured they could see into the future. They were considered as “Living Gods”…and their word was the law.

The secretive and religious nature of the Evon was visible everywhere…even in their architecture. Their buildings were tall, graceful, mysterious and glittering…grand standing ovations to the Evon Gods. The most striking Evon city, the capital Eschovia, home to more than 12 million Evon, was a feast for the eyes…miles upon miles of impossibly tall glittering black monoliths….interwoven with aerial “Connectivity Nodes” and surrounded by the incessant, yet strangely silent traffic that filled the airways of the city. In this impressive vista, the “Eye”, home of the Triad, was a sight even more stunning. Extending fully for a kilometer above the ground, and extending almost the same distance beneath, this black durasteel structure towered above its surroundings. This was the heart and soul of the Evon Protectorate…the brain that ran the indescribably complex civilization of the “Void Dwellers”.

Vidurva, the mythical God of Darkness, and Creator of the Void, was the supreme entity of the Evon. In fact, the entire basis of Evon life was based on the letter “V”…to acknowledge the power of belief that they had in Vidurva. So the wind itself was called “Vayu”…and the life force was called “Vastu”. Vastuka was the incredibly ancient and deadly martial art which was the hallmark of Evon Warriors…which used knowledge of how Vastu worked to enhance the speed and effectiveness of the Vastuka wielder. The ultimate Vastuka Artists…the greatest warriors…were called Vishwajit. The flag of the Protectorate itself depicted the symbol of the Voraksasi…a deadly sickle shaped double-edged hand combat weapon…carried only by Evon nobility. Even the physical world itself was called Vishwa…and physical objects like clothes and other belongings Vastra.

Known only to a chosen few of the Old Ones (Evon who had lived for more than a hundred years), the history of the Evon extended back to the ancient past… back to the time when they had been created by the “Masters”…a race which was lost in the mists of time… back to the time when they had once been a spacefaring race, whose domain spread across the stars…back to the time when the Age of Darkness befell the Evon, when the merciless Great Enemy defeated the mighty Evon fleets and ruthlessly destroyed their once glorious civilization.

Now all that remained of the Evon Star Empire was the fledgling civilization on the planet Eosochela IV…and other scattered unknown colonies spread across the Orion Sector. But this was not the end…for the Evon had finally re-discovered the secrets of traveling to the stars…

…in the recently discovered ruins of an unknown massive vessel…buried deep in the depths of the harsh Vadun desert. A starship which still had an operational “warp drive” – a device which held the secrets of interstellar propulsion in its massive holds…and a still operational Data Archive…

The time of the Evon had come again…

The children were returning to their home…the stars…

And a new era of galactic domination was beginning…

Introduction

One of my earliest science fiction writings, based on a secretive species called the Evon, from the game Master of Orion III.

The original post can be found here (http://ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=534357).

And this story is really short...as that was during a particularly hectic point of my life.

P.S.: Somehow I really love the Evon as a race! They gel well with my inclinations as an assassin. :)